


How To Train Your Blink Puppy

by Angel Ascending (angel_in_ink)



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: A Dash of Self-Loathing Because Caleb, Beach Day, Canon-Typical Violence, Frumpkin And Nugget Are Friends, Gen, Mostly Fluff, Nugget Is A Good Boy, Someone Needs to Train This Puppy, The Owl Does Not Eat The Weasel, Yes The Owl Tries to Eat The Weasel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 11:00:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15884706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_in_ink/pseuds/Angel%20Ascending
Summary: Caleb held the pieces of the broken wagon wheel together as Jester muttered the spell of mending under her breath. Off to the side, he could hear the low murmur of Caduceus trying to calm the horses, who had gotten spooked and bolted when Nugget had suddenly blinked nearly under their hooves. Thankfully there had been no one else on the road to worry about, and no one had gotten seriously injured when one of the wheels had struck a rather large rock and the cart had nearly tipped over.“Just how attached are we to this dog?” Fjord asked the group as he sat on the side of the road. “Because if things like this keep happening I think we might have to find another home for him.”Someone has to train Nugget, if only to keep things peaceful in their group, and Caleb knows a little about fey creatures, after all.....





	How To Train Your Blink Puppy

Caleb stroked Frumpkin, looking out at his friends through the half bubble of magical energies that surrounded him. Jester was cuddling a tiger cub while Beau was scritching an owl that looked as grumpy as she usually did. Fjord stood off to the side, saying something to Jester that Caleb couldn’t quite hear, but from his expression Caleb guessed that the half orc was trying to talk her out of an impulse purchase. Caduceus was over by the cart, looking at the animals in their cages like he was trying to determine if they were healthy and happy. Caleb had a feeling that if those animals had been abused in some way, the merchant would have already been screaming and covered in beetles.

“You are the best,” Caleb whispered as he pet Frumpkin. “None of those other animals can even hold a candle to you.”

Frumpkin purred and rubbed his cheek against Caleb’s.

Caleb wasn’t surprised moments later when Beau came back with the owl perched on her shoulder. He remembered the wondering, awestruck look on her face every time he had turned Frumpkin into a bird, after all. He also hadn’t been surprised to see a scarlet weasel curled up against Jester’s neck. Weasels were cute and soft and clever. It suited her. Caleb just hoped that Beau’s owl didn’t try to eat Jester’s new pet. Speaking of…..

“Don’t eat Jester’s pet,” Caleb whispered into the copper wire he had wrapped around his wrist. He saw Nott emerging from her hiding place behind some tall grass.

“I wasn’t gonna eat either of her pets.” Nott messaged back. “That weasel would hardly be a mouthful anyway. Probably.”

Okay, that was good. Not terribly convincing, but good. Wait. Had Nott just said ‘pets’? As in plural? Caleb looked again and saw a wiggling bundle of fur in Jester’s arms, which suddenly vanished and then reappeared on top of her head, right between her horns. It barked, a high pitched yap of a sound and disappeared again, reappearing at Jester’s feet, nearly tripping her. Caleb groaned and buried his face in Frumpkin’s fur. He had been nearly obsessed with the fey as a boy, had read every book about them he had been able to get his hands on. He knew immediately what Jester had purchased.

“A blink dog. Not even a dog. A puppy. Jester bought a blink puppy,” Caleb muttered. “This will only end in tragedy.”

**********

Caleb sat by the campfire, half-eaten bowl of stew balanced on his lap, Frumpkin a pleasing weight around his neck. Dinner had been a little more chaotic than usual, and Caleb didn’t like chaos, as a rule. It upset his stomach.

“Jester, I’m really sorry about Archie,” Beau said, frowning, the owl in question shuffling on her shoulder and hooting in what could only be described as a disgruntled fashion. “I fed him and everything, and I _told_ him that Carmine isn’t for eating. I’ll try to keep a better eye on him, okay? I’m sure Archie is very sorry. Aren’t you, Archie?”

The owl didn’t look sorry, he looked grumpy and sullen and he clicked his beak at Beau’s fingers when she tried to skritch him.

“Just don’t do it again!” Jester said to the bird. “Carmine is a pet! She is not dinner, or breakfast, and she is certainly not dessert!” She looked over at Caduceus, who was sitting next to Caleb, holding the scarlet weasel on his lap. “Carmine is going to be okay, right?”

“She’s going to be just fine,” Caduceus said with a smile, brushing the remaining gray bits of healing lichen out of her fur before handing her back to Jester. “Beau? Let me talk to Archie for a minute. Maybe I can explain the difference between pets and food.”

 _Good luck with that_ , Caleb thought as he turned his attention to the puppy that was eating a bowl of stew near Jester’s feet. It turned out that Jester and Beau had both paid for the animal, so he had two people to blame for this new addition to the party. It surprised him that so far Nugget had been the best behaved of the new animals, or at least hadn’t tried to eat anything living. He liked chewing on things though, like boots, and Jester’s cloak, and the edge of the wooden bowl he had been eating out of. Was he teething? Caleb would have been worried about his books except he had long since grown used to sleeping curled up around them, or with them underneath his pillow if they were staying at an inn.

“Caleb! If you keep glaring at Nugget he’ll think you don’t like him!”

Caleb sighed and tore his gaze away from the small dog, whose grayish black fur blended in with the shadows thrown from the campfire. He didn’t look Jester in the eye, knowing full well that what he was going to say next would disappoint her.

“I do not like dogs. They are messy and loud and—“

“Nugget isn’t loud!” Jester said in protest. “You’re not loud, are you, Nugget?”

Nugget looked up at the sound of his name and started barking shrilly, tail wagging. Carmine startled at the sound and jumped out of Jester’s hands, running across the campsite. Archie gave a hooting screech and launched himself from Caduceus’s arm, flying after the weasel.

“Archie, no!” Beau called after her pet, running after him.

“Carmine! Come back!” Jester called, running after Beau.

Caduceus rose, shaking his head. “It’s hard to get an animal to go against their nature,” he said with a sigh, heading in the direction Beau and Jester had gone.

“If we make it to the coast with all three pets still alive or at least not lost, it’ll be a miracle,” Caleb heard Fjord mutter.

“I do not disagree,” Caleb said. “Though I doubt the gods have any concern whether pets live or die.”

There was the sound of air being displaced, then there were paws on Caleb’s leg and a furry snout in his half-eaten bowl of stew.

“Nugget, no! Bad dog!” Nott’s voice was shrill and Caleb flinched. There had been entirely too many loud noises that evening and his nerves were feeling frayed. With trembling hands, he lifted the dog off his lap and set the bowl of stew next to him. He knew he shouldn’t reward bad behavior, but the stew was almost gone anyway, and he hated to see food wasted. He stood up, fingers wrapping around the crystal bead in his pocket.

“Let him have it, Nott. I’m going to go set up the hut. Fjord? If you could tell everyone not to disturb me for the next little while? I need some quiet.”

“Sure Caleb, no problem,” Caleb heard Fjord say as he walked away.

For ten minutes nothing filled Caleb’s head but the words and gestures he needed for the spell, and all that he could hear was the sound of his own voice. By the time the dome shimmered into place around him, the color matching the grassy hillside as best he could, he started feeling relaxed again. He crawled into his bedroll with a contented sigh and closed his eyes. It had been a long day, and for once he felt that maybe he could fall asleep without his mind keeping him awake with its anxieties. Frumpkin purred against his chest, the vibration a familiar and soothing one.

Caleb half woke at the sound of his friends entering the hut and bedding down for the night, quiet whispers of conversation doing little to disturb him. Eventually everyone settled down, and the only sounds Caleb heard were the quiet breathing of his friends. Peace. Finally.

Something warm and wet caressed Caleb’s cheek and he shrieked, half scrambling out of his bedroll, hands smoldering. His shriek caused Nugget, who had just licked the side of his face, to start barking. Everyone was up and out of bed in an instant, weapons ready, their confused shouts mixing with the sounds of Nugget barking, Archie screeching, and Carmine making a whistling shriek.

It was a long time before anyone found sleep that night.

******

Caleb woke up still feeling tired from the night before, vision blurry. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he yawned, counting heads as he always did when they slept outdoors. Nott was asleep near Caleb’s feet as usual, no surprise there. Beau had lay her bedroll next to Jester’s, Carmine curled up atop Jester’s head. Archie was nowhere to be seen, and Caleb was torn between hoping that the owl was sleeping in a tree nearby and selfishly wishing that maybe the owl had flown away never to return. Fjord slept a bit away from the group as was his habit, and Caduceus….

Caduceus was awake and looking at something with the slightest hint of a smile on his face, which Caleb had begun to learn was sort of Caduceus’s default expression. He looked at most things that way, rocks and moss and interesting bugs. Caduceus caught Caleb’s eye and put a finger to his lips, then pointed near Caleb.

Frumpkin and Nugget were standing across from each other, noses almost touching, Frumpkin’s tail twitching at the tip. Neither of the animals were making a sound.

Caleb slowly raised a hand, fingers poised to snap Frumpkin onto his shoulder, but Caduceus shook his head.

“They’re going to have to get to know each other sometime,” Caduceus said softly. “Let’s see what they do.”

Caleb sighed softly through his nose and let his hand slowly drop, though his fingers were still in position to snap if Nugget so much as growled at Frumpkin, even though he knew logically that there was no way Nugget could permanently hurt Frumpkin. Still, it would upset everyone if Frumpkin got scared and took a swipe at Nugget.

“Mrrrrrp?” It was Frumpkin’ questioning noise, which Nugget answered with an quiet, excited whine that was almost a yelp.

Frumpkin purred and rubbed his cheek against Nugget’s before licking one of his ears. Nugget sat down, tail wagging furiously in the dirt, as Frumpkin began to groom him.

“Awww, that’s nice,” Caduceus said with a smile. “They’re getting along. That’s great.”

 _Traitor_ , Caleb thought at Frumpkin. _This is because I made you drink milk, isn’t it?_

Frumpkin paused in his grooming and squinted his eyes shut, which made him look very smug, and purred even louder.

******

Caleb held the pieces of the broken wagon wheel together as Jester muttered the spell of mending under her breath. Off to the side, he could hear the low murmur of Caduceus trying to calm the horses, who had gotten spooked and bolted when Nugget had suddenly blinked nearly under their hooves. Thankfully there had been no one else on the road to worry about, and no one had gotten seriously injured when one of the wheels had struck a rather large rock and the cart had nearly tipped over.

“Just how attached are we to this dog?” Fjord asked the group as he sat on the side of the road. “Because if things like this keep happening I think we might have to find another home for him.”

“No!” Both Jester and Beau shouted at the same time, Beau holding Nugget in her arms. Archie shuffled and clicked his beak at Nugget, who whined and disappeared, reappearing at Beau’s feet.

Jester looked down at the wheel in Caleb’s hands. “Damn, now I have to start over. We’re not getting rid of Nugget though! We love him!”

“I know, Jester, I know. But think about it. We were lucky this time, this could have been a lot worse. And what if we’re in a dungeon and suddenly Nugget starts poofing around and sets off a trap? Or gets the attention of a monster we were trying to sneak up on? He either needs to be trained or we need to find someone that’s better equipped to handle him. Or, I don’t know, is there some sort of magic leash we could put on him that would keep him from blinking when we don’t want him to? Caleb?”

“I am the wrong person to ask,” Caleb said. “You would need an enchanter for that, I think, or an artificer.”

“The merchant said he was trained to stay in his cage—“ Beau began to say.

“We are _not_ keeping him in a cage,” said Jester, Fjord, Caduceus and Nott immediately.

Caleb looked over at Nott, not disagreeing with her, just surprised she had spoken up. He shouldn’t have been. He had met her in a jail cell after all.

“I wasn’t saying we should, if you’d just let me _finish_ ,” Beau said testily. “I just meant that Nugget has to know the word sit or stay or something, right? Hey Nugget? Sit!”

Nugget whined and took a step toward Beau.

“No, Nugget! Sit! Stay!” Beau said, louder than before.

Caleb winced.

Nugget whined again, ears flat against his head, tail tucked in between his legs. From the puppy’s perspective the last several minutes had been filled with him almost getting trampled by horses, a lot of people yelling, a grumpy owl snapping at him, and then some more yelling. To Caleb, he looked scared, like he wanted to do the right thing, but had no idea what that thing _was._ Caleb understood what that felt like.

 _You are projecting your own feelings onto a dog,_ Caleb thought to himself. Out loud he said, “Nott, can you take my place here for a minute?”

“What? Oh, sure Caleb,” Nott said, obediently holding the broken wheel together as Caleb stood up and walked over to Beau.

“Beau,” Caleb said quietly. “When you were younger, did your tutors ever raise their voice to you?”

“Yeah,” said Beau, eyebrows knit in confusion.

“And did the increased volume of their voice ever make it easier to learn things?”

“No,” Beau said, scowling. “It just made me feel frustrated and stupid…” Beau trailed off as understanding dawned on her features. “Oh.” She knelt down and gathered Nugget up into her arms. “Fuck, I’m sorry, Nugget,” she said as she pet him.

Nugget yipped happily and licked Beau’s face.

“I believe you are forgiven,” Caleb said, and walked back over to the cart.

Once the cart was repaired, the group managed to squeeze in a few more hours of travel before stopping for the night. Caleb picked at his food as he tried to recall what he knew about blink dogs. They were fey creatures, and of at least average intelligence. Was it easier to train smarter creatures, or harder? Caleb reached up and pet Frumpkin, who was draped, scarf-like, around his neck.

“I did not have to train you,” Caleb said quietly. “You just do as you’re told.”

Caleb heard Nugget whine next to him, tiny puppy paws scrabbling at his leg the only warning he got before the puppy disappeared and then reappeared on Caleb’s lap, seemingly about to repeat the incident from the other night.

“No, Nugget,” Caleb said, reaching out for the puppy. “None of that now. That is mine.”

Nugget yipped, tail wagging, and disappeared, reappearing on top of Caleb’s head.

 _“_ Oh for—“ Caleb reached up for Nugget, rolling his eyes. Were all puppies mischievous, or was this because Nugget was fey?

Wait. _Fey._ Of course.

“ _Down,_ ” Caleb said firmly in Slyvan, the language of the fey.

Frumpkin leapt off Caleb’s shoulder at the same time that Nugget reappeared by Caleb’s feet.

“I did not mean you, Frumpkin,” Caleb said, giving his cat an affectionate head scritch before turning his attention to Nugget.

“Now, was that just coincidence, or did you actually listen to me? _Sit_.”

Nugget sat immediately.

“ _Good boy,_ ” Caleb said and Nugget barked happily, tail thumping in the dirt.

 _“_ Would you look at that? He listens to you,” Fjord said in an approving tone from his place across from Caleb. “What was that language you were talking to him in? You learning how to speak to animals from Caduceus or something?”

Caleb felt himself fighting down a blush, he had forgotten that anyone else might have been watching him. He shook his head. “Ah, no. I was speaking in the language of the fey.”

“ _Very well, I might add,_ ” Caduceus said in Sylvan as he filled his teakettle with water for tea. The rhythm of the words was as languid and thoughtful as when Caduceus spoke in Common.

“ _Not nearly as well as you I fear, friend,”_ Caleb replied, deflecting the compliment because he did not deserve it. _“It sounds better when you speak it.”_

 _“I don’t know about better,”_ Caduceus replied as he rummaged around in his pack for teacups. “ _Different, maybe, but you’re making yourself understood, and that’s the whole point, isn’t it?”_

“I have no idea what you’re saying, but it sounds very pretty,” Jester said, not looking up from her sketchbook.

“You missed it Jester!” Nott said as she carefully picked up the vial of acid she had been working on and stowed it in her bag. “Caleb taught Nugget how to sit.”

“I uh, rather think he already knew how to sit, I just—“

“And I missed it?!” Jester stood up, obviously excited. Nugget stopped sitting and ran over to her, tail wagging. “Caleb, do it again!”

“Do what again?” Beau asked as she finished her nightly exercises, sweat gleaming off her forehead.

Nugget ran over to Beau, excited because everyone else was excited. Archie gave a sort of hiss from Beau’s shoulder.

“ _Nugget, sit._ ” Caleb said quickly.

Nugget sat, though he whined, body trembling from the force of his wagging tail.

“Good boy, Nugget!” Beau said proudly, then looked at Caleb. “You’re right, not yelling works better.”

“This is great!” Jester said, clapping her hands. “Caleb, you have to teach Nugget to stay and roll over and to tear out the throats of our enemies!”

“Jester,” Fjord groaned. “The puppy is barely the size of my foot, maybe we should hold off on teaching him how to kill people for the moment.”

Nugget barked and disappeared, reappearing on Jester’s head, still barking excitedly.

“ _Quiet,_ ” Caleb said, feeling a headache already starting to form. The puppy was still entirely too loud for his tastes.

Nugget continued to bark, tail wagging as he looked at Caleb.

Caleb sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Understanding and obedience were two different things after all.

*********

By the time the Mighty Nein had reached Jester’s home, Caleb had been ready for a vacation. It had felt like he had been spending every waking moment teaching his friends commands in Sylvan or working with Nugget to not only obey spoken commands, but silent hand signals as well. Beau and Jester had been busy too, trying to train their animals, with Caduceus’s help. It had taken a bit of doing, but all the animals had learned, more or less, the commands for stay, hide, come, and away. Archie still tried to eat poor Carmine every so often, and Nugget still hadn’t gotten the hang of how to be quiet, but those things would come with time, Caleb hoped. Yesterday Jester had declared that they were on vacation, and Caleb figured that meant he could relax on the training for at least a day or two.

If Caleb was honest with himself, he liked teaching his friends how to do things. He enjoyed the sense of pride he felt when they finally pronounced a word correctly, or grasped a concept he had been trying to get across. Maybe if his life had turned out differently he could have been a teacher. Maybe if he succeeded in his plans he would be…

Caleb mentally shook his head. Let him have a vacation from those thoughts as well, as if that was possible. Instead he shifted on the towel he was laying on as he enjoyed the shade from the extremely large umbrella Jester had bought in town. The sun was crueler here, he had learned, or at least he had learned that his extremely pale skin tended to burn extraordinarily quickly, which had hardly seemed fair. No one else seemed bothered by the sun at all except for Caduceus, who kept squinting at the brightness of the sun reflecting off the water and the sand even with his hat on. Maybe the next time Caleb went into town he could ask around and see if anyone sold glasses that protected your eyes from the sun. That seemed like a useful thing surely someone would have invented.

Caleb reached out for the book he had managed to find in town during their shopping trip the previous day. The bookstore had been more of a treat than usual, Caleb desperate to look at something other than clothes. There were clothes just for swimming in, which to Caleb seemed like a ridiculous indulgence, but yet somehow Jester had talked him into a pair of swim shorts. He had to admit that his coat had indeed been too warm to wear on the beach, though it was laid out beside him, spell components in their usual pockets. Not like he had needed them. The beach had been quiet and peaceful so far, the sound of the waves against the shore very soothing indeed.

Caleb flipped through his latest bookstore acquisition, a fortuitous find indeed, a small tome that talked about raising various exotic creatures as pets. He was pretty sure that anyone who wanted to try and raise a baby beholder or a basilisk had a death wish, but he had to admit that he _may_ have read the chapter on phase kittens before he had started the one on blink dogs.

“Not that I need another cat,” Caleb said out loud, petting Frumpkin, who was curled up and napping on his coat. Frumpkin squinted at Caleb in displeasure at having his nap disturbed before going back to sleep. Caleb himself had to fight the urge to doze off as he read, though not because the book was boring. The day was warm, the sound of the ocean waves calming, and he had spent a great deal of the morning swimming, to the amazement of nearly everyone else in the group. Caleb read a paragraph about a device called a temporal leash, which kept young blink dogs from blinking too far from their owners, before his eyes slipped closed.

At first Caleb thought the yelling was a part of his dream. People yelling usually featured prominently in his dreams. It wasn’t until he heard Jester angrily shout, “We are on **vacation**!” that Caleb realized that something was actually wrong. He leapt to his feet before his eyes were even open, heart pounding too fast, mind racing frantically. Something struck him in the chest and he experienced an instant of terrible pain before he was yanked forward.

 _This is what happens when you aren’t alert._ The voice of failure in Caleb’s head sounded like Trent’s voice and his own mixed together, as it usually did. _This is what happens when you think you are safe. You let your guard down and that’s why this happened._

Caleb finally managed to get his eyes to focus on the creature many feet away from him, the merrow who had thrown the harpoon that was currently stuck into Caleb’s chest and was holding the cord attached to the the weapon. Caleb staggered and tried to dig his feet into the sand to prevent himself from being dragged further forward, his hands closing around the shaft of the harpoon.

 _I really wish people would stop impaling me,_ Caleb thought as he pulled the harpoon free, grunting in pain as the metal tore out of his flesh, followed by the steady warm flow of blood. All of his spell components were in his coat, but there were some spells that could be cast without materials, just needed words and gestures to initiate. Fire had always been Caleb’s friend, his savior and his curse, and the scorching rays left his hands so easily. Caleb didn’t even look to see if they hit, just turned and stagger-ran back to his coat.

Frumpkin was staring at him, yellow eyes wide, and Caleb snapped his fingers and sent him away. He could hear Jester shouting at Nugget and Carmine to hide, heard the screech of Beau’s owl and the hiss of a merrow in pain. There were other shouts, other voices. Nott was calling for him, and Caleb opened his mouth to answer her at the same time he reached for his coat, as the same time the harpoon hit him in the back, sinking deep before pulling free.

_Turning your back on the enemy? Really? Have you forgotten everything I ever taught you? I thought you were clever._

“Shut up,” Caleb whispered, and there was blood when he spoke, just enough to spatter across his coat and his new book.

 _I just bought that_ , Caleb thought with mild annoyance, knowing full well that it was inane to be thinking about a book when it was suddenly harder to breathe, when there was blood caught in his throat. All of that felt distant and far away, his focus narrowed to his coat and the contents of his pockets as he dropped to his knees. One hand found the iron powder as his eyes flicked over to Beau, just close enough for his magic to reach. She became large when he muttered a word or two, large enough to protect everyone else, but he barely heard her rumble of thanks as his hands searched for the bat shit and sulphur he needed to create a fireball. He could take out the merrow attacking him with that, and then maybe be able to hurl a few more spells as he staggered towards one of the two clerics that would surely heal him. He smeared the components on his hands, coughed out the words of the spell, turned and—

Caleb heard the high-pitched growl at the same instant the power left his hands and time seemed to slow down, letting him take in every detail. Nugget, so very small still, teeth sunk into the merrow’s hand, the harpoon the merrow had been about to throw lying in the sand. Nugget looked up at Caleb, tail wagging, as Caleb clawed at the air as if he could call the spell back, as if he could turn back time if he just pulled hard enough and he heard himself scream “ ** _Nugget come here!_** ” before everything turned to fire and smoke and the high scream of the dying merrow.

Caleb fell to his knees, staring at the sand, the sounds around him strangely muted. There seemed like an awful lot of his blood staining the beach red, but he couldn’t look away from it. If he looked up, if he looked at the smoking body, then he would know for sure if he had just killed something good along with the bad. As long as he didn’t look up then Nugget was fine, Caleb hadn’t killed him. He would just keep looking down. He felt cold. There was an awful lot of blood on the sand. He couldn’t look up. It had been an accident.

 _Was it? Was it an accident?_ The voice in his head chuckled dryly, kindling that was ready to burn. _You never liked the dog in the first place. Maybe you heard him before you let the spell go, and you’re just fooling yourself into thinking there was nothing you could do._

Caleb closed his eyes as if that would help somehow as the voice continued. _No one else will believe it was an accident, you know. Jester and Beau will never forgive you. Fjord and Caduceus will think less of you. Even Nott—_

A string of high pitched barks caused Caleb’s eyes to fly open in surprise. Nugget looked up at him, wagging his tail, very much alive.

The relief Caleb felt left him shaking and exhausted. “Good boy,” Caleb whispered as his eyes closed again, and Nugget’s happy barks followed him down into unconsciousness.

*******

Caleb came to consciousness slowly, sensations and sounds arriving to him piecemeal. He was in a bed, he could hear the soothing rise and fall of the ocean surf from a distance and his chest ached dully. He tried taking a deep breath and immediately began coughing.

“Caleb?” Beau’s voice, exhaustion and concern wrapped around the syllables of his name.

Caleb opened his eyes and yes, there was Beau, eyes shadowed from lack of sleep, hands reaching out to help him sit up before she pressed a cup of water into his shaking hands. He drank it gratefully, feeling as dry as beach sand.

“Is everyone all right?” Caleb managed to say, the words sticking in his throat slightly.

Beau looked at him for a long moment and then made a sound that might have been a strained chuckle. “You nearly died and you’re asking if _we’re_ all right?”

Caleb looked Beau in the eye for a moment and then looked at her shoulder, where a shiny new scar was. “Yes, that is exactly what I am asking.”

“We’re fine,” Beau said, waving her hand dismissively, though Caleb caught the slightest of winces when she used that hurt shoulder. “Nott’s been beating herself up for not being able to get to you in time, for warning. I only just managed to pry her away from your side and convince her to get some breakfast maybe a half hour ago. We’ve all been taking turns checking in on you, but she just wouldn’t leave.”

“Breakfast?” Caleb consulted his own internal clock and realized Beau was right, it was indeed morning. “I was out for that long?”

“Yeah man, you were pretty beat up. That merrow only hit you a few times but shit, he had good aim. Jester said you sounded all… bubbly when she got to you. She thought you were dying, but umm…” Beau rubbed at her eyes for a moment. “She said your necklace started glowing and then you sounded better.”

“Oh.” Caleb put a hand over the heart pendant that lay slightly warm against his chest.

“Yeah.” Beau’s voice sounded thick with emotion, and she coughed once before continuing. “Anyway. Thanks for making me all huge again, that really helped. And wow, that fireball you do is really powerful shit. There’s a circle of glass on the beach that has all burnt merrow bones in it, it really looks kind of awesome.”

“Yeah. That. I—“ Caleb thought about not saying anything. He was trying to be better, but he still had moments of selfishness, of cowardice. He could say nothing and no one would know. No one would know what he had almost done.

“Nugget was on the merrow when I released that fireball, Beau. I saw him too late—I _think_ I saw him too late—I thought I killed him.”

“Well you didn’t, obviously,” Beau said easily. “We all heard you call out to him, Caleb. Fuck, I think people on other planes of _existence_ heard you. It’s a good thing you trained him so well.”

“But I could have—“

“But you _didn’t._ Sure, maybe _look_ before throwing spells around next time, and we all need to work on getting our pets to _hide_ when we tell them to, though Archie clawed out one of the merrow’s eyes and it was pretty badass, but don’t beat yourself up for shit that didn’t happen, okay? It’s not like Nugget is holding a grudge.” Beau gestured towards the foot of the bed. Nugget, so quiet for once that Caleb hadn’t realized he was there, whined happily and wagged his tail, padding up the bed before flopping back down by Caleb’s side. “We tried to take him out of the room several times and he just kept poofing back in here.”

Caleb leaned back against the headboard and sighed. How did he keep inspiring loyalty when he clearly did not deserve it?

“You should go join the others for breakfast,” Caleb said quietly. “I’m fine now.”

Beau gave him a long look before shrugging and getting up. “I’m not going to be able to stop Nott from running in here with breakfast for you, but I could maybe hold her off for ten minutes or so, if you need a little bit of quiet time to yourself.”

Caleb felt the corners of his mouth tug upwards in the faintest of smiles. “Ah, yes, thank you. I am very predictable, I know.”

“There are worse things,” Beau said as she scooped Nugget up into her arms. “C’mon boy, let’s leave Caleb alone and get some breakfast, okay?”

Nugget whined as Beau walked toward the door, and then suddenly he was back on the bed.

“Nugget,” Beau said with a tired sigh. “C’mon, not this again.” She turned back around, ready to pick up the puppy for another try.

“He can stay,” Caleb surprised himself by saying.

Beau chuckled. “Maybe you’re not so predictable. Are you turning into a dog person, Caleb?”

Caleb snapped his fingers in response, summoning Frumpkin, which Beau seemed to take as answer enough, and she was still chuckling as she left the room and closed the door behind her.

Frumpkin head butted Caleb in the chin and then proceeded to meow and stomp his feet in what Caleb recognized as Frumpkin’s way of telling him off for getting hurt in the first place.

“Yes, yes, I am very sorry,” Caleb said contritely, petting Frumpkin until the cat settled into his lap with a purr that was mostly a grumble.

 _“And as for you,”_ Caleb said in Sylvan, picking up Nugget. It was his first time actually holding the dog, and he was surprised to find that his fur, while not as soft as Frumpkin’s, was not an unpleasant texture.He looked into Nugget’s eyes. “ _When one of us tells you to hide, it is for a good reason. We cannot summon you back to us with incense and charcoal. Understand?”_

Nugget whined, ears flat, and Caleb sighed. He thought about the pendant against his chest, about how Molly had been prone to standing in front of Caleb to protect him, about how happy Nugget had looked when he had made the merrow drop the harpoon.

“ _I think if I had been struck again, I might have missed with the spell,”_ Caleb said softly. _“And there is only so much this necklace can—could—if—“_ He took a deep breath and tried again. _“You might have saved my life. We will both be more careful in the future, yes?”_

Nugget yipped and licked Caleb’s face, tail wagging.

 _“I will take that as a yes._ ” Caleb said as he heard the telltale scrabble of goblin feet coming down the hallway.

Caleb let Nott fuss over him, and if she noticed that Caleb was feeding his bacon to Nugget on the sly, well, she didn’t say anything.

**Author's Note:**

> This was going to be a short little series of vignettes about Caleb adjusting to the new group dynamic now that more animals were involved. Hahahahaha. "Short."
> 
> Pet names: Carmine means red, so that's simple enough. Beau's owl is named Archie, short for Archimedes after Merlin's pet owl in The Once and Future King, and yes, after the Owlship in Watchmen. Names are hard and at least I didn't name it after the owl in Clash of the Titans.
> 
> The book Caleb is reading is the fictionalized version of The Baby Bestiary Volume 1, which you can find on DriveThru RPG. The sample chapter is about blink dogs, and yes the temporal leash is a thing, though how expensive that could be I don't even know. Also the table of contents totally lists phase kittens. PHASE KITTENS. I need those in my life.
> 
> I'm angel-ascending over on Tumblr if y'all want to stop by and say hi!


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